Drop & Smash Test

To test for drop-proofness, we released the cameras from incrementally increasing heights. We then laid them on concrete and smashed them with a metal baseball bat until they broke.

Casio: Casio claims its camera can survive 7-foot drops. Ours breezed through a 10-foot ceiling-height fall unscathed. After one hard bat smash, the screen was a cracked mess, but the camera still worked. One more hit and it was over.

Kodak: This camera's claim to resist 2.5-foot drops was far too modest—the PlaySport took our 10-foot fall like a champ. The baseball bat was another story: One hit broke a hinge and cracked the screen beyond use.

Olympus: The claim: 6.6-foot-drop survival. The reality: A 10-foot fall was no problem. But one hard hit from a baseball bat left us with a dead camera.

Winner: Casio.

Bottom Line

All three cameras proved exceptional at withstanding grime, water and drops. And while the Casio's ability to withstand a hard hit from a bat was particularly impressive, all of them can handle most common calamities.